Duke is a musician, singer, and songwriter. He discovered his teaching gift at age 18 when the church he was attending had no class for his age group. He started a weekly Bible study and prayer night in his home in Seymore, TN. He attended Leadership Training Institute in 1984-85 and was a home Bible study leader and prayer meeting leader at Redemption Church International for years in Knoxville, TN. He currently lives in Manila, AR with his beautiful wife, Teresa, assisting as a Bible teacher at Oasis Church in St. Francis, AR. His email is dukeeastin@gmail.com

Temptation or deception: Part 2

Posted Tuesday, August 16, 2016, at 9:25 AM

Genesis 2:8 -- And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

2:9 -- And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

2:17 -- But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

3:1 -- Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 3:4 -- And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

3:6 -- And when the woman saw that the tree (was) good for food, and that it (was) pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make (one) wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Well, here we are again, back at the beginning of temptation. Remember Part 1 was: keep it simple, God created us, He loves us, He's smarter than us so keep it simple, just trust Him, do what He says, just the way He says it, and we win. Keep it simple.

When we were lost without God, our mind was satan's playground. Before God's Word came to renew our mind, satan would speak his lies telling us wrong is right and right is wrong. We would obey those thoughts and that's how we got in the terrible shape we were in.

Deception is when we already know what God's Word says. Instead of, it is written, devil!, we allow satan's thoughts of questioning God's Word to corrupt, twist, and pollute our thoughts to the end that we replace God's Word with satan's thoughts and obey them...thus disobeying God. The fearful thing about deception is that it takes my involvement, therefore, I'm self deceived. Once we get here, very few escape. And the reason? Because your compass of truth has been modified. Now you won't acknowledge God's Word as the truth. You only want to hear your modified version that agrees with your forbidden desires.

2 Timothy 2:25 -- In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

2 Timothy 2:26 -- And (that) they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

So let's end on a positive note, keep it simple; Trust God, read God's Word, and do what he says and things will be much better.

James 4:7 -- Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.